


Sprinkling Artificial Flowers

by Tathri



Category: Fruits Basket
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Eventual Romance, F/M, M/M, Mental Anguish, Mental Instability, Physical Abuse, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-19
Updated: 2015-03-19
Packaged: 2018-03-18 14:07:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3572459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tathri/pseuds/Tathri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first crack in the impenetrable curse, the legend begins to wind to its close. Soon everyone will be free from the binds of a wretched god, and one by one we'll scatter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sprinkling Artificial Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> This is gunna be a long ride, so buckle in and prepare yourself for all that commences. This is an AU Canon Divergence, beginning from Chapter 116 of the original manga. While I intend to address the subject of abuse in Furuba, I won't focus on it. This plot is about liberation and all it entails. Sohma Akito is portrayed as biologically male.

Had Akito always been so small?

Frantic eyes composed a portrait of horror, an expression painted by layers of faint shadow in the building's corner. Positioned on the lip of the porch, and staring down at that shaking frame, a thousand new questions followed the first. Momiji's eyes scrawled slow, leisurely lines across his former divine's posture. Akito's bare feet were clumped with pieces of grass and soft soil, irritated from the haste which had spirited the creature from his usual lair.

The loose, draping clothing that clung to the thin body was disturbed and wrinkled. The slashes of inky hair that draped the Zodiac god's features were strewn wildly, carving across the bones of Akito's narrow face. Momiji blinked. The picture didn't change. Akito was still there, mouth drawn into a plea.

"Don't leave," the whispered, cracked words were akin to foreign, alien sounds. They weren't kind, not from the voice that he could have recalled at any time merely by wondering. However, Akito's voice was shaking. The self-sure, acidic tone of complete authority utterly banished in the face of that new fear. Every second that passed placed more distance between his memory's imprint and the 'reality'. Already, the figure that was gazing at him in panic was growing distant, fading to a smudged replica of the old compulsion. Like a poorly composed photograph that had held so much sentimental value in his childhood now rediscovered in complete apathy. Akito was tearing apart his previous self merely by existing.

"Don't go," hoarse and emotional. The only passion that Akito ever wove into words was disgust and venom. Momiji's cheeks recalled the searing gashes torn into them by the hands now wringing at his chest. Was he disturbed to see the fragile reality hidden beneath a crust of malice? No, strangely, he didn't feel anything at all. Confused, maybe. Puzzled. Why didn't he care anymore? The dull throb in his chest, that had drawn him into the cruel trance of Akito's stale world simply couldn't be found. He searched for it, out of idle curiosity. His thoughts scraped nothing. The ties were cut, leaving nothing but a barren lack of interest.

"Don't leave me behind," the selfish voice begged. Momiji's heart kept beating, unaffected by the despair engraved into the devastated other. Not even Akito's weakest prayer evoked a single thread of sympathy in him. Momiji's cheeks twitched, a faint upward curve. Was he smiling?

Akito's long, thin fingers clasped at the cuff of Momiji's shirt, dragging downwards. Curling in the fabric in a desperate tug, as if he could somehow shake his Zodiac back into their curse. Momiji wondered the final damning thought, gazing down at the contorted, petrified pair of Prussian blue eyes: _Just what about this person could bind me_?

"Mo-," split, hesitating, the trembling vocals of the god tried to speak the name, and then faltered. As though saying the full name would break the last remainders of the spell. Akito seemed to register new information off his broken Zodiac's face, splintering into a new colour of abject dismay.

"Momiji," sharp breath entered Akito's lungs. Momiji could see a mirror image reflected in the widening pupils, gaping saucers that now revealed his own face. The Momiji in Akito's eyes was an empty, lifeless husk, hollow eyes staring down. The corners of his mouth were ever so slightly curved upwards, giving the macabre scene its complete and wonderful evolution. _This small_.. Akito's palm twisted upwards, as if to punish the scornful eyes, to judge him for daring to give his god anything but the artificial, blackened love he fed himself on. _Weak.._ The hand relented, flinching backwards and covering Akito's face, shielding it from the absence of warmth in the broken Zodiac's stare. 

 _Pitiful person_.

"Don't look at me!" Akito voice was a wretched distance from its past self, a cry of sudden self-loathing that felt so hollow. Would anyone else have recognized Akito, right now? With that voice that begged: _Don't look at me with those eyes_. Momiji's mouth flickered upwards again. Why was it such a poor joke? Akito shriveled, twisting away from the boy he was so pathetically soliciting to stay. Broken and chipped, Akito's realization arrived at the same time Momiji's did. 

"Don't be mad," Akito's trembling voice switched tactics, scratchy and coarse. The god extended his claw to the face it had torn, beaten, and cut so many times, as if to cup it, to touch Momiji once in a way that he'd done so often with Yuki. The image immediately flickered in Momiji's mind, a brief spot of clarity in the raging static. Akito's hands were vicious instruments, a lesson every Sohma learned at least once. But for Yuki, everything was different. Yuki was Akito's 'special', a vacant exception from the default, but in a way that was far from kinder. Barbed affection, serrated and harsh, was reserved for Yuki. Yuki never rejected that touch. Akito 'took care' of Yuki. Always, always, always Yuki.

"I'll take care of you!"

Their joints touched, and in the barest of flicks the memory was gone. In a single, effortless sweep of the wrist, Momiji pushed the talons away. It was similar to pressing the power button on Akito's frame, for his body language froze, and the current of his composure snapped. Akito ceased to function, simply rooting in place.

"You?" Momiji spoke for the first time. In dull and catatonic verses, lacking in anything discernibly human, he told Akito lies. That he was still a tool, that he had nothing in mind, and that he was only in need of a bit of time. With every word, Akito lost more of his Zodiac. 

Before Akito knew it, Momiji pushed the screen door closed to conceal the corpse of the rabbit. Decaying, rancid, and free. Momiji leaned against the glass, waiting for those few precious seconds to pass.

Listening as Akito's knees struck the ground, and the first wracking sob tore itself from the god's throat. It was a sweet and sickly sound.

**Author's Note:**

> Reviews always welcome! I'm experimenting with an abstract writing style, so let me know what you think.


End file.
